Chapter 13 - THE MISSING MOTHER|
Dante's first instinct was to close every road leaving Manhattan and send his men through every property his family owned.
Sofia stopped him before the orders could be issued.
“If you flood the city with armed men, whoever took Eleanor will know we're desperate.”
“She is my mother.”
“I know.”
“You don't know what it means to have her disappear.”
“No,” Sofia said, her voice trembling. “But I know what it means to love someone so much that fear makes you stupid. You need information, not a war.”
Dante stared at her.
For a moment, she thought he might ignore her.
Then he turned to Marcus.
“Preserve the security footage. Contact the police. No one approaches any suspected location without coordinating with the investigators.”
Marcus nodded and left.
Dante pressed both hands against the desk.
“She was safe here.”
“Was she?”
He looked up.
Sofia continued carefully.
“Someone knew her routines. Someone knew when you were away. Someone could move through your house without being noticed. We need to know who had access.”
The staff were interviewed individually. A housekeeper remembered seeing a maintenance worker near Eleanor's suite the previous afternoon. The worker's credentials were later found to be false. Security footage showed him entering the building using an access card assigned to a former employee.
The trail led to a private garage in Brooklyn.
Police found Eleanor's car abandoned there, but no sign of Eleanor herself.
Then Adrian received a message.
Come alone to the old chapel on Mercer Street. Bring the original photograph.
Dante refused to let him go.
Adrian stood his ground.
“If this is about me, I need to know.”
“If it's a trap, you'll be walking into it.”
“They took my grandmother because of something I might inherit. I won't sit here while everyone else decides what risks I'm allowed to take.”
Sofia recognized the anger in his voice. It was the same anger that had once made her refuse help from anyone who offered it.
“Then we make a plan,” she said.
The police established surveillance around the abandoned chapel. Adrian carried a duplicate photograph, while the original remained secured with the investigators. Dante stayed nearby with Marcus, and Sofia insisted on accompanying the police liaison because she had recognized a detail in the message.
The phrase old chapel appeared in one of the documents from the storage locker. Michael had used it as a reference to a private meeting location.
At the chapel, Adrian entered through the side door. The building smelled of damp wood and candle wax. A single light glowed near the altar.
“I'm here,” he called.
A man stepped from behind a pillar.
He was older, thin, and dressed in an ordinary gray coat. He held a phone in one hand and a photograph in the other.
“Your mother should never have told you about Michael.”
“Where is Eleanor?”
The man glanced toward the doorway.
“Alive. For now.”
Adrian's face tightened.
“What do you want?”
“The original photograph and every document you found.”
“I don't have them.”
“Then you should have brought the man who does.”
The police moved in.
The man tried to run through a side passage, but officers intercepted him before he reached the street. He carried a key card, a prepaid phone, and a note with an address in New Jersey.
The address belonged to a closed roadside motel.
Eleanor was found in one of its rooms, frightened but physically unharmed. She had been given water and medication, and a nurse examined her before she was transported to a safe location.
When Dante reached her, he fell to his knees beside the bed.
“Ma.”
Eleanor touched his face.
“I knew you'd come.”
“I should have protected you.”
“You cannot protect me from every terrible thing in the world.”
“I should have known someone was watching us.”
She shook her head.
“You were trying to find the truth. That is not a crime.”
Dante bowed his head against her hand.
Sofia stood near the doorway, giving them privacy.
Then Eleanor caught her eye.
“Sofia.”
“Yes?”
“Come here, dear.”
Sofia approached.
Eleanor took her hand.
“I remember now who was in the car with Michael.”
Dante lifted his head.
“Who?”
Eleanor looked at him, her expression suddenly clear.
“Your father wasn't alone when the car went over the guardrail.”
May you like
She paused.
“Vittorio was in the passenger seat.”
